“When does a job feel meaningful? Whenever it allows us to generate delight or reduce suffering in others. Though we are often taught to think of ourselves as inherently selfish, the longing to act meaningfully in our work seems just as stubborn a part of our make-up as our appetite for status or money. It is because we are meaning-focused animals rather than simply materialistic ones that we can reasonably contemplate surrendering security for a career helping to bring drinking water to rural Malawi or might quit a job in consumer goods for one in cardiac nursing, aware that when it comes to improving the human condition a well-controlled defibrillator has the edge over even the finest biscuit. But we should be wary of restricting the idea of meaningful work too tightly, of focusing only on the doctors, the nuns of Kolkata or the Old Masters. There can be less exalted ways to contribute to the furtherance of the collective good.... ....An endeavor endowed with meaning may appear meaningful only when it proceeds briskly in the hands of a restricted number of actors and therefore where particular workers can make an imaginative connection between what they have done with their working days and their impact upon others.”
Quote by Alain de Botton
Work
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
This book delves into the multifaceted nature of employment, examining the emotional and psychological impacts of work on individuals' lives. more
Author
You May Also Like
“I was getting an A for work. But not for talent. The story of my life.”
Source: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Source: The Analects
Source: Cities & Countries
Source: Atlas Shrugged
Source: Nothing
Source: The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
“... and that was when I learned that work gets done if you simply do it.”
Source: My Name Is Lucy Barton
“Confucius say if man want to grow one row of corn, first must shovel one ton of shit.”
Source: Misery
